Bharwa Aloo (Stuffed potates)

B﻿harwa Aloo (Stuffed Potatoes) is a unique and amazing North Indian dish. This dish is made with round scoped fried potato shells stuffed with paneer, nuts and spices and then cooked in spicy gravy.

Bharwa aloo dish has an amazing taste and very tempting looks. Potatoes are every ones favorite and they are prepared in many different ways and combination. They could be cooked as a main course or a side dish you will always find potato dishes on the dining table.

Every region in India have different recipe of stuffed potatoes but stuffing can vary, using different cheeses, nuts and vegetables. So make the variation and try to cook stuffed potatoes for your guest and parties.

1. In a pan heat ½ tablespoon of oil, add chopped onions and sauté for few minutes or until they become translucent. 2. Add chopped green chilies and chopped almonds and sauté for few seconds.

sauté onions

Add chopped green chilies & chopped almonds

3. Add crumbled paneer and mix with all the ingredients and cook for half a minute while continuously string. Turn the stove off

Add paneer and mix

Stuffing

﻿Directions for stuffing the potatoes:﻿

1. Wash and peel the potatoes and dry them with a paper towel or kitchen towel.

2. Take one potato at a time and gently slice off the top, save it for the cap. With a small spoon scoop out the flesh from the center of the potato halves so that a depression is formed for the stuffing. Keep it aside. 3. Heat 2 cups of oil in a frying pan or a kadai.

Potato shells and caps

Heat the oil

4. Once oil become hot gently slip in the potato shells and fry them on medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes or until they become golden brown and crisp from outside, while frequently flipping them around every 2 to 3 minutes. Remove them from the oil and place them upside down in a plate over paper towel so that extra oil is absorbed.

Slip in the potato shell in hot oil

Potato shells are fried

5. Now gently slip in the caps of potatoes in hot oil and fry while flipping them around every 2 minutes. Once the caps become golden brown take them out from hot oil and place them in the plate over paper towel.

Slip the caps in hot oil

Potato caps are fried

Place the fried potato shells & caps over paper towel

Fried potato shells and caps

6. Once potatoes cool down, take one potato at a time and with a spoon take some stuffing and stuff the potato. With the thumb press the stuffing and put the cap back on the top and secure it with a tooth pick. Repeat until you stuff all the potatoes. Keep them aside.

Potato shells stuffed with paneer
stuffing

Stuffed potatoes secured with toohpicks

﻿Directions to prepare the gravy:﻿

1.Soak the almonds, cashews and poppy seeds in the hot water for 20 to 30 minutes. Once almonds are soaked take their skin out. In a blender add yogurt peeled and soaked almonds, cashews and poppy seeds and grind them to make a paste. Transfer the paste into a bowl. Keep it aside.

2. In the same blender add onions and garlic and mince them. Mixture should be coarse.

3. On high heat add the oil in a frying pan; add minced onions and garlic and sauté, while periodically stirring. Onions will have a lot of water so for the first 8 to 10 minutes keep the heat high so that all the onion water evaporates quickly.

In a pan add minced onions, garlic and oil

Onion become light brown

4. While onion mixture cooks add the tomatoes to the same blender and puree.

5. Once the onion water has evaporated turn the heat down to medium and let the onions fry for 8 to 9 minutes, frequently stir the onions.

6. Once the onions become light brown add coriander powder, red chili powder and turmeric powder and mix with the onions and fry for few seconds.

Add coriander powder, red chili powder and turmeric powder

Mix the spices with fried onions

7. Add tomato puree and yogurt nut paste. With the tomato puree and yogurt, onion masala become watery turn the heat high for 2 to 3 minutes, so that water evaporates quickly.Frequently keep stirring the onion masala, turn the heat down to medium.

Add tomato puree and mix

Add yogurt nut paste and mix

8. In about 5 to 6 minutes tomato puree and onion masala will blend together. Once all the water has evaporated you will see the oil in pan. That means the onion masala is done.

9. Add salt, 2 cups of water and 1 cup of milk in the onion masala and mix and constantly stir for a minute so that water and milk blend in well, then cover the pan and cook for 10 to 15 minutes.

11. Once you have the desired consistency of gravy add stuffed potatoes and simmer for 5 to 6 minutes, or until potatoes become tender. While cooking periodically with the spoon take some gravy and pour over the potatoes to cover them, because the potatoes are tender and stuffed and you do not want to turn them around often they may break. Use tongs to turn the potatoes around. Add more water if needed. Turn the stove off.

In the gravy add stuffed potatoes

Cover the potatoes with gravy

12. When ready to serve gently with the tongs pick the potatoes and transfer in the serving dish then transfer the gravy and garnish it with coriander leaves.

With the tongs turn potatoes around

Bharwa aloo are ready (stuffed potatoes)

Bharwa aloo (stuffed potatoes)

﻿Tips:﻿

1. Instead of soaking the nuts then grinding them you can dry grind the cashew nuts, almonds and poppy seeds and make a powder. Once onions and garlic are fried add the nut powder and fry for few second then add spices

2. Nuts makes the gravy thicker.

﻿Please take the time to let me know what you think about my recipe. Your comments would be helpful to me to improve the recipe.Thank you Geeta Seth﻿